Michael Brown: Sports world a risky place

Cartoon / Parry Jones

People have had a glance into the future of international sport over the past 12 months - and it doesn't look good.

Last week's threat from the 313 Brigade, an operational arm of al Qaeda, for competitors to avoid this month's Hockey World Cup, the Indian Premier League cricket competition and Commonwealth Games was made to destabilise an already volatile India.

It was also a specific threat and threats sometimes become real, like the bombing of a restaurant in Pune that killed eight last weekend. As much as Indian authorities have tried to allay fears and guarantee safety, everyone is extremely nervous.

Of course, competitors, sports bodies and governments should defy these threats. Pulling out is only legitimising the cause of these despicable individuals and encouraging other terrorist groups to wage their own "war".

But it's not that easy. Lives are at stake. Sportsmen and women didn't sign up for this. Their training is in the gyms and on the practice fields, not on rifle ranges.

The New Zealand hockey team have no intention of being used as a test case to see if the Commonwealth Games should go ahead and have delayed their journey to India until they can be convinced it is safe. There will be promises but the human mind knows promises aren't always kept.

Shane Warne has also declared that he is reconsidering playing in this year's IPL if threats of a terrorist attack are proven to be credible.

Remember, last year's one was shifted to South Africa at late notice because of fears of instability around India's general elections.

The world is undoubtedly changing. Sport is no longer that untouchable pastime. Competitors are, in the eyes of terrorists, valid and easy targets. They play in open fields and in front of large crowds.

This could change, however, in many parts of the world. When decision-makers meet to determine which country hosts a tournament, a country's location in the world will be a major factor.

Already cricketers refuse to play Pakistan at home, meaning Pakistan play their 'home' matches in places like Dubai, England and even New Zealand.

Likewise, the 32 teams due to compete at June's World Cup in South Africa have been told to include a security detail in their touring party.

Few needed much convincing after two members of the Togo football team were killed by dissidents as they travelled by bus to the recent Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

New Zealand Football have hired a South African security firm to keep them safe and that's on top of the 40,000 security staff who will be assembled for the World Cup.

It's hard to see the sub-continent hosting major events in future. Large tracts of Africa are also unstable and there would be considerable nervousness about heading to many countries in Asia and South America because of dissident and fundamentalist groups there.

That would leave a very Western sporting landscape. Sport would not be seen as something that crosses the cultural divide. Rather, it would be something that accentuates it. Many athletes will never truly know what it is like to compete at a major event at home.

These same athletes will also become even more distant to the general population because, quite frankly, no one can be trusted. That is sad. Kids will still have their heroes but they will never know what they are really like.

What started at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972, when 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian dissidents, has accelerated. Sport has no place in political and religious struggles, yet it is impossible to avoid them.

Just ask the Sri Lankan cricket team, who were fired upon on their way to a game in Pakistan last March. A game. No one wanted to play much after that.